1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper feed device, and more particularly to a paper feeder for use in electrophotographic copying machines, printers, or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior paper feed devices of the type described include a paper cassette containing a stack of copying sheets and can be detachably mounted in a paper feed section of a copying machine body, the arrangement being such that uppermost sheets are fed one by one from the paper cassette loaded in the paper feed section. The known paper feeder includes sheet-separating pawls disposed on both sides at a front end thereof for reliably separating sheets irrespective of the various types of paper used, such as plain paper, film, paper with its surface treated in a special way, and the like, to thereby prevent plural sheets from being fed simultaneously into the copying machine, e.g. as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,689,064 (Kuksa) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,235 (Calabrese).
The sheet-separating pawls project over the stack of sheets and hence will interfere with the sheet stack as it is loaded or replaced. As a solution to this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,865 (Okada) shows a paper feeder having sheet-separating pawls turnably supported and outwardly displaceable, upon being angularly lifted, out of interference with sheets when they are loaded or replaced. However, the disclosed paper feeder has been disadvantageous in that the sheet-separating pawls have to be turned each time the sheets are loaded or replaced.